


blurry photos

by m_feys



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: 80s cameras, Family, Fluff, Future Fic, Gen, Jonathan POV, Taking photos, its very sentimental yall, jonathan is going off to college, they are a family unit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-27
Updated: 2019-09-27
Packaged: 2020-10-21 15:42:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20695997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/m_feys/pseuds/m_feys
Summary: “That was—” Will starts to say between soft peals of laughter, muffled behind his hand, “that wasreally good.”“You should have seen the look on your face,” his mom suggests, grinning wildly.“I’m sure I will later,” he sighs, exasperated and fighting down a grin of his own.





	blurry photos

**Author's Note:**

> my camera description might not entirely accurate, its only from personal experience with my grandfather's old camera and i doubt he and jonathan had the exact same one. If u have a ton of camera knowledge and smth bothers u, u can comment and ill edit to fix it

“Okay,” his mom says, wresting the camera away from him now, “we don’t have nearly enough photos of the photographer himself, so it’s my turn now.” Then, she’s turning the camera on him and Jonathan winces in the too-bright flash. 

“Mom,” he protests, blinking away spots and reaching for his camera. She only gives him a saccharine smile and tightens her grip on it. “I don’t _need_ any pictures of myself,” he points out.

“Well, _I_ need pictures of you,” she tells him pointedly, a fond smile pulling at her lips. Unyielding, as always.

“Mom,” he pleads once more, but to no avail as he’s smiling now too. The shutter clicks as she’s snapping another photo.

“Oooh, that was a nice one!” she exclaims, quickly taking another.

He rolls his eyes along with a shake of his head, even still, he’s unable to disguise his grin. He goes to set the table— the task his mother had abandoned in favor of kidnapping his camera.

“Will, your turn,” their mother calls and his little brother looks up from where he’s fidgeting with the new radio Mike had mailed him. He sets aside the radio without preamble, moving to stand beside her. She secures the camera in his hands now.

“Take some nice pictures of your brother for me. I have to go dig through our shit to find the board games.” They still hadn’t unpacked everything. It had all been too hectic at first. Now, it had been months since they had moved.

Jonathan just assumed that by this point that some things would never get out of the boxes. Still, it didn’t feel like they weren’t living here; most everything had been unpacked and put in its new place. He supposes boxes filled with junk that just got shoved into the closet were part of any home.

Their mother walks away and Jonathan gives Will a _look_, as if to say, _’can you believe this?’_ But that only earns a sly grin from Will, who turns the film and lifts the camera, adjusting the focus slightly as he does. Jonathan huffs a laugh at that.

“_Oh_, you too?” The camera sounds again as he takes the shot.

Jonathan walks away from the focus of the lens to get the rest of the dinner he and his mother had cooked together. Grabbing hold of the casserole dish, Eleven appears beside him to pick up a bowl of snap peas to help carry to the table.

“Smells good,” she murmurs as they step from the kitchen.

He smiles, breathing deeply before agreeing, “yeah, it does.”

The shutter clicks. It’s a sound that he’s used to, it’s familiar, almost comforting. But not having it be in his control, is strange. Being on the other end, not being the one line up the shot, find the perfect moment, and press the button, it feels foreign. Not bad, but definitely uncomfortable. He prefers having his camera be in his hands.

“That was a good one,” Will says to them, smiling warmly. Jonathan tries to imagine the shot, of him and El walking from the kitchen, food in hand. In doing so he finds himself excited at the prospect of developing the film, of seeing it wash into existence, and getting to see new pictures of him and his family. Maybe he should let them use his camera more often, he thinks reluctantly. It isn’t what he prefers, but it is kind of nice in it's own way.

Their mother returns with arms full of games, stacking them precariously on the corner of the table. Out of the way and perfectly primed to fall if jostled.

“Oh, before we sit down to eat,” she starts excitedly, “El, do you want a turn taking pictures?”

The girl’s eyes dart up to Jonathan, looking uncertain. He realizes with a start that he never taught her to use his camera. Regret hits him at the thought. He’s sure she would have delighted in the new experience. He really should let other people take the pictures, sometimes.

He moves instantly, to correct this, walking around the table to where Will was offering it back to him.

“Here, El,” he says, and she moves around the table eagerly then too, exactly like he thought, she would enjoy this.  
He places the camera in her hands, “it can break if you drop it,” he starts explaining as she grips it like she’s seen him do numerous times before. “But don’t worry too much, because this one’s not all that fragile.” This was the camera Steve and Nancy had given him as a replacement, years ago. It was actually nicer than his old one, funny enough. It was sturdier than the last one, but he had never dropped it and he didn’t plan to start now.

“Fragile: easily broken or destroyed,” she mutters under her breath, reminding herself of the definition.

“Yeah,” he agrees, then points out the viewfinder, “you put this up to your eye to see what you’re taking a picture of,” he explains and she does, carefully lifting it to her face to peek into it. He smiles at the sight.  
“Then here,” he starts, stepping in front of her to gently move her hand to the lens, “you turn back and forth to bring the image into focus. This way for things far away, and this way for things up close. Since we’re just taking pictures inside you shouldn’t have to adjust it much at all.” He takes a step away from her, letting her fiddle with it for a moment.

He moves around her again, to stand at her shoulder once more, wanting to watch as she takes her first picture.  
“Right here,” he points to the lever and she lowers the camera from her face to see where he’s pointing, “you pull towards you to turn the film after every photo so you can take another one and then you just press this button.”

She studies the camera seriously for a moment.

“Simple, right?” he asks, a smile quirking his lips. She nods.

“You can try taking a picture now,” he prompts gently after an idle moment, and she nods once more, looking deathly serious.

His mother and Will watch on with easy smiles and Jonathan thinks it will be a nice one.

Slowly, she lifts the camera to her face, facing their family and pulling back on the lever until it clicks into place. Then, without warning, she’s whipping around to face Jonathan instead, catching him off guard as the camera flashes and she snaps a picture of him.

He’s stunned for a moment, then she’s bursting out into giggles and slowly he finds himself cracking up too, still astonished even as he does. Eleven has the sort of infectious laughter that you just can’t seem to help joining in with.

“That was—” Will starts to say between soft peals of laughter, muffled behind his hand, “that was _really good_.”

“You should have seen the look on your face,” his mom suggests, grinning wildly.

“I’m sure I will later,” he sighs, exasperated and fighting down a grin of his own.

Eleven shrugs, her own smile tiny and pleased. “It might be blurry,” she offers, holding his camera back out to him.

Since she’s lived with them, he’s started to feel the same fierce need to protect her that he feels about his little brother. It’s strange and a little frightening to feel so attached to a new person.

Right now, he just wishes he’d taught her this sooner, but they still have a few months to learn together.

“That’s okay,” he says as she deposits it back safely into his hands, “those are some of the best ones.”

He thinks of the photo in his room, of Will and his friends, laughing. None of them are in focus because they were all giggling as he took it and it’s one of his _absolute_ favorites. Not the kind of thing that would get published in papers, or get you lauded for your craft. But the sort of thing that holds a dear memory. That you put in albums or frames and get copies made to keep with you. That’s the kind of thing that can be held in a blurry picture.

“You can try taking more after we eat,” he tells her, setting the camera aside as they all sit down, “and you _don’t_ need to take them all of me,” he tells her quickly, “no matter what Mom says.” Eleven smiles quietly in response.

“You’re leaving for college soon and I don’t have nearly enough pictures of you, Jonathan,” his mother reprimands.

“It’s gonna be _okay_, Mom,” he tells her, not willing to admit he’s worried about leaving too. He just wants to comfort her.

“You’re gonna see me all the time. Every break. And I’ll call so much you’re gonna get sick of me,” he says, prompting a withering look from her, and he can’t help but laugh at that. He knows it’s not true, of course, but it feels so wrong to be going so far away from them.

He doesn’t want to lose the bond he’s been building with El when he goes. He always wants to be the person Will can talk to and never wants him to feel alone. Then his mother, he doesn’t want her to think she’s losing him, ever. They’re his family, he doesn't want to abandon them. It terrifies him.

“I promise it’s gonna be okay, Mom,” he tells her more soberly, even if he’s not sure he quite believes it himself. She reaches out to squeeze his hand, giving him a trembling smile. He knows how hard this is for her.

She nods, letting out a breath, “yeah, it will be,” she agrees, finally. She lets go of his hand then, moving to dish out the casserole on each of their plates.

“Let’s eat, then play games,” she decides as she sits back down. Her eyes slide over to Jonathan, smiling fond and wistful. He meets the look with a bittersweet smile of his own.

“_And_ take a ton of pictures of Jonathan!” Will declares suddenly, all of them looking over to him. Mom laughs, certainly what he was aiming for, El giggling along, and Jonathan just grins at him. Will grins back.

“Here, here!” Their mother smiles brightly too, raising her glass.

**Author's Note:**

> ive been writing a lot of stranger things fic with heavy feels and just wanted this one to be a cute family moment (with a tiny touch of feels bc i cant help myself sjhafkhdsjh)
> 
> I hope you enjoy! I really appreciate comments and kudos! (tho i wont always reply!)


End file.
